Glenn Bower, director of the Cypress College Mortuary Science department, sits at his desk on campus. The funeral director works part time at Rose Hill Memorial Park in Whittier. ANDERS HOWMANN, STAFF

Funeral workers

Funeral directors, morticians and undertakers in U.S.: 102,978

Projected employment growth by 2022: 12 percent

Median salary: $49,549

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics and Jessica Coth, public relations manager with the National Funeral Directors Association

CYPRESS – Glenn Bower can talk funerals for hours.

His tone isn’t somber, either. The funeral director mostly smiles and enthuses while describing his profession.

Bower’s job is more than an occupation: Death care is his calling.

Dressing bodies and overseeing funeral services certainly aren’t uplifting, Bower admits. But helping a family navigate the death of a loved one – that’s gratifying.

“In some respects, you could say we walk side by side with (the families),” Bower said. “We’re there if they need us, but if they don’t need us, we are still there.”

In addition to his full-time work as director of the Cypress College mortuary-science department, Bower works part time as a funeral director at Rose Hill Memorial Park in Whittier.

He began studying mortuary science at Cypress College after he was laid off from his Santa Ana aerospace job in 1992. His brother, who worked in the mortuary industry, recommended the career change.

After working as a funeral director for a few years, Bower returned as a faculty member in 1999 and became the program director in 2003.

Cypress College is one of two accredited mortuary-science programs in California; there are 58 nationwide.

Bower said around 30 students graduate from the 18-month program each year, with 70 percent finding jobs within six months as a funeral director, an embalmer or in a position that requires both skills. As the baby boomer generation ages, demand is growing for such employees – the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the industry to grow by 12 percent over the next decade.

Bower said there are two reasons why students decide to undertake the profession: The student had a particularly unpleasant funeral experience and believes he or she could do a better job, or the student had a good experience that the student wants to replicate for others.

Bower treats his classroom like a funeral home: He lectures in a suit and expects students to attend class in natty attire.

The program only has four full-time faculty members, all of them Cypress College grads. The number of new students thins significantly after the first semester.

Bower tries to give newcomers a clear picture of what work will be like when they graduate. Many expect to conduct autopsies or perform science work with cadavers – morticians actually don’t do either. Others find they can’t stomach working with human remains.

Funeral directors actually spend most of the time interacting with the families of the deceased, Bower said.

“When a lot of students apply to the program, they think it’s just like TV,” Bower said. “You are dealing with the human remains probably 30 percent of the time and the families or ancillary groups 70 percent of the time.”

Bodies are transported from Los Angeles County facilities to Cypress College for use in lectures and labs.

A deep understanding of human anatomy and physiology is required to complete the embalming process, Bower said. Students inject formaldehyde through the arterial system in order to preserve bodies for open-casket ceremonies. The college also teaches a dressing process that doesn’t require the body to be embalmed.

Bower hopes to install a crematory on campus in the near future. Although students learn about the process in class, they do not currently have a place to complete that service.

Some students work part time with local funeral homes in order to get a feel for the industry.

Starting wages for full-time jobs are $8 to $15 an hour. With five years of experience, employees can make as much as $25 an hour.

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